Meteors
Meteor showers offer some of the most fascinating viewing of all astronomical events. These are predictable, annual events during which meteor totals climb, often dramatically. To help you plan your next meteor watching party, check out this table of some of the more common meteor showers during the year.
| Shower | Dates | Hourly Rate | Radiant R.A. | Radiant Dec. |
| Quadrantids | Jan. 2-4 | 30 | 15h 24m | 50° |
| Lyrids | April 20-22 | 15 | 18h 4m | 33° |
| eta Aquarids | May 2-7 | 10 | 22h 24m | 0° |
| delta Aquarids | July 26-31 | 15 | 22h 36m | -10° |
| Perseids | Aug 10-14 | 40 | 3h 4m | 58° |
| Orionids | Oct 18-23 | 15 | 6h 20m | 15° |
| Taurids | Nov 1-7 | 8 | 3h 40m | 17° |
| Leonids | Nov 14-19 | 6 | 10h 12m | 22° |
| Geminids | Dec 10-13 | 50 | 7h 28m | 32° |
meteoroid: a meteor in space before it enters earth's atmosphere meteor: a small bit of matter heated by friction to incandescent vapor as it falls into earth's atmosphere meteorite: a meteor that has survived its passage through the atmosphere and strikes the ground
Meteors in a meteor shower are related. To prove it, plot the course of the meteors you see on a star chart. Most will seem to come from the same area of the sky. This area is called the radiant. Meteors appear to come from a radiant because they are all traveling through space along similar paths, and the earth's orbit takes us through their path.